Cross folding machine



Feb. 21, 1933. c. sPlEss CROSS FOLDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 28 1932Patented m. 21, 1933 PATENT OFFICE GEOBG SPIESS, OI LEIPZIG, exam? caossronnme mom Application fled January 26, 1982, Serial No. 588,881, and inGermany January 31, 1981.

I have filed an application in Germany on the 31st of January, 1931.

In the known cross folding machines of the general type described in myprior U. S. Patent No. 1,725,837, in which the sheet is checked byimpact with a stop and 1s buckled or bent at the folding position by theaction of feed rollers, it is necessary when feeding the sheetsseparately and con- 19 secutively, to let the feed device of the cornerfeed table and at least the rollers of the first cross foldingapparatus, run at a higher speed than the folding rollers of the foldingapparatus arranged anterior to the corner feed table, in order that asheet moved upon the corner feed table towards the cross foldingapparatus should leave the corner feed table entirely or substantiallyentirely before the following sheet reaches, with its leading edge, thecorner feed table. In the known arrangements it is essential thatcontact of a sheet reaching the corner feed table with the sheetpreviously put upon the corner feed table be avoided, so as not to incurthe risk of the second sheet being pushed into the open end or foldingmouth of the preceding sheet.

A high feed speed or end speed of the corner feed table is, however,detrimental go to a satisfactory registration of the sheets. It is mostimportant that the folding speed in the first cross folder should notexceed a certain magnitude as otherwise the accuracy of foldingdeteriorates excessively even :5 though the folding line of the sheet ispreshaped before the folding operation proper.

If in the known cross folding machmes m which the sheet is bent orbuckled before the actual folding operation, the foldin speed 0 of thefirst cross folder is kept su ciently low to ensure a satisfactoryfolding, the maximum capacity of the first folder can not be fullyutilized, as the sheets cannot be fed so as to follow immediately uponeach other but must be fed intermittently or with an interval, or thespeed of the first folder must be reduced below the normal ,degree. I

One of the objects of the present invention is to avoid these drawbacks.The invention consists substantially in conve the folded sheetsdelivered by the first dl d er 1n such a manner to the following cornerfeed table that the sheets whilst moving in the direction towards thefollowing cross folder overlap each other. This partial superlmposing ofthe folded sheets may be effected by any suitable means, for instance bythe PI'OVlSiOIl of suitable pushin delivery rollers and guide membersprovi ed at the delivery end of the first folder. When applymg theinvention to multiple fold machines, the superimposing of the foldsheets may, of course, be applied at every corner feed table, that is,anterior to every cross folder. In a preferred construction according tothe invention the folded sheets are conveyed by pushing delivery rollersto a conveyor table arranged at a somewhat lower level so w as toprovide for a slight drop at the point at which the folded sheets aretransferred from the delivery and of one folder to the feed end of thefollowing folder, and suitable guide tongues are provided at this pointin such a manner as to insure that the leading edge of a folded sheetissuing from the pushing delivery rollers is moved over the open end ofthe previous folded sheet which is being conveyed transversely to thecorner folder. These guide tongues assist in 0b taining the uiredoverlapping and the proper positiomng of the folded sheets upon thecorner table leading to the followlng folder. It is preferred to providethe feeding means, for instance, feed rollers, of the corner feed tablewith counter rollers preferably in the form of rotary brushes thepressure of which may be controlled and also a guide plate under whichthe folded sheet,

after having been dro ped from the guide tongues, passes. The oldedsheet performs, whilst dropping upon the preceding sheet, a movementparallel to itself and covers a very considerabie portion of thepreceding sheet. Owing to the force of inertia imparted to a foldedsheet by the pushing delivery rollers, and also owing to the action ofthe brush rollers, a folded sheet whilst being conveyed m9 in atransverse direction towards the following cross folder is movedsimultaneously against a registering rule, and simultaneously the openend of the folded sheet is I closed by the brush rollers, so that theguide tongues are always located at a considerably hig er level than theupper edge of the open end of the previously deposite folded sheet. Thisarrangement efl'ectivel prevents a 1 folded sheet which is beingeposited upon a corner feed table from accidentally entering the openend of a previously deposited sheet. The invention enables the conveyingspeed of a corner feed table and the folding speed of the cross folderfed by the table to be maintained equal to or even less than the speedof the preceding folder, and this advantage is attained whilstmaintaining an uninterrupted feed of the sheets into the folding machineand employin the most favourable speed within the rst folder. Anotheradvantage of the invention resides in an improved registration of thesheets and in slowing down the actual foldin operation within the secondfolder, whic results in a much more accurate and satisfactory foldingaction.

The accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically one constructionembodying the features of the invention, all parts unnecessaryefor theunderstanding of the invention ing omitted.

Fig. 1 shows a simple cross folding machine in elevation said machinebeing suitable for effecting two parallel folds and one cross fold.

Fig. 2 is a top view corresponding to Fig.

Fig. 3 shows in detail the action and arrangement of the drop stagebetween the parallel folder and the corner feed table, 7

Fig. 4 shows in detail the arrangement of the adjustable brush rollersof the corner feed table.

The sheets are conveyed continuously in known manner by means of a feedtablel mounted in a frame 2 and provided with a lateral registering rule100 to a pair of rollers 4, 7 driven in known .manner from a shaft 3,and are fed by the rollers 4, 7 into an upper folding table or pocket 8.In this pocket the leading edge of the sheets is checked by a stop 80 sothat the sheet contained in the table or pocket owing to its beingpushed from behind by the roller pair 4, 7, is buckled or bent at theforward end of the folding pocket 8. The buckled or bent portion isgripped by the roller pair 4, 5 and the sheet is then folded and movedby the rollers 4, 5 into a lower folding pocket 9, in which the leadingedge of the sheet is checked by a stop 90. Owing to the rollers 4, 5continuing to push the sheet, the sheet is again buckled or bent at the65 forward end of the second folding pocket 9 and enters the rollers 5,6, which grip the sheet and fold same a second time parallel to thefirst fold. After being folded by the rollers 5, 6, the sheets areconveyed to a corner feed table 16 by deliver rollers 10, 11 over adelivery table 12 and y a further delivery roller 14 which cooperateswith guide rollers 15. Upon the delivery table 12 are provided guidetongues 13 which pass throug the roller pair 14 and 15 and extendapproximately to the height of the lateral edge of the corner feedtable. The corner feed table is located at a lower level than the tabledelivery roller 14, see particularly Fi 3, so that each sheet issuingfrom the rol er pair 14, 15 comes into contact with the corner feedtable only when the leading or forward edge of the sheet reaches aboutthe longitudinal middle line of the corner feed table. Consequently,each sheet which has been completely deposited upon the corner feedtable and is being conveyed upon the corner feed table to the followingcross folder, will be partly covered by the subseuent sheet, see alsoFig. 2, a perfectly reliable sliding of the superimposed sheet over thepreceding sheet at the time of the deposition being insured by the guidetongues 13 which lie above the corres onding edge of the corner feedtable 16. roper covering and overlapping will therefore take place evenin cases in which a deposited folded sheet should have the tendency toopen at its rear end. As there is no risk of a subsequent sheet beinginserted into the deposited open end of a sheet previously upon thecorner feed table, the rollers 16a of the corner feed table andconsequently the rollers of the cross folder fed by the table may beallowed to run at a lower speed. This reduction of the speed of the feedtable and the cross folder may be so high that the actual working speedof the cross folder need not be higher than the speed of the previousfolder. A perfect folding may,

therefore, be obtained whilst maintamin a continuous supply of sheets.In ot erwords, it is not necessary to provide for an interval betweentwo following sheets in the first feed of the folding machine in orderto compensate for the difference in the speeds of the two followingfolders.

The corner feed table is provided in known manner with an adjustablymounted registering rule 17 Upon this rule is mounted an adjustableriding support 18 which may be clamped in any desired position upon therule and carries by means of a pivot pin 19 parallel to the conveyingrollers 16 a double armed lever 20. The longer arm of the lever 20carries upon its end a brush roller 21, whilst the shorter arm of thelever rests upon a set screw 23 probeing conveyed by the feed rollers16a of the corner feed table may be regulated at will. The ridingsupport 18 carries also a guide plate 24, which guides the sheet intoposition under the brush roller. If required two or more brush rollersmay be provided.

Owing to the yielding and soft pressure exerted by the brush rollers,the deposited sheets are immediately and reliably pushed by the feedrollers against the registering rule and they cannot, even at very highworking speed, slide back. The partial overlapping of the sheets uponthe corner feed table enables the folded sheets'to be conveyed to thefollowing cross folder 25 very closely one after the other, so that therequired folding operations can be satisfactorily'performednotwithstanding the fact that the sheets are continuously and with outany interval fed by the first feed table 1. The peripheral speed of thefolding rollers of the cross folder need not, as in the hitherto knownconstructions, be greater by about one half than the peri heral speed ofthe folding rollers 4, 5, 6 of the preceding folder, but it may beapproximately the same or even lower than the speed of the rollers 4, 5,6. The folding rollers of the cross folder 25 are driven from thepreceding roller through a bevel gear 26. The slow folding speed withinthe cross folder and the slow feed of the sheets towards the crossfolder leads to a very accurate registration of the sheets along theregistering rule of the corner feed table and it also results in a veryaccurate folding, and owing to the reduction of the discharge speed, a I

very gradual and reliable discharge upon the delivery stack 27 isinsured.

I claim:

1. In cross folding machines the combination of: a first folder; asecond folder; means for transferring sheets folded within the firstfolder to the second folder, said means comprising a corner feed table;and means for partly superposing the folded sheets coming from the firstfolder whilst delivering same to the corner feed table, whereby thefolded sheets are delivered to the second folder in such a manner thateach sheet is overlapped by the following sheet, substantiall asdescribed.

2. In a cross fo ding machine of the ty referred to, the combination of:a first folder; asecond folder; means for transferring the folded sheetsfrom the first folder to the second folder, said means comprising a er;a second folder; a corner feed table interposed between the said twofolders; means for delivering the folded sheets from the first folder tothe said corner feed table, said means comprising pushing deliveryrollers and guide tongues, said guide tongues being situated at a higherlevel than the corner feed table and projecting over the corner feedtable, substantially as desrcibed.

4. In a cross folding machine of the type referred to, the combinationof: a folder; a second folder; means for transferring the folded sheetsfrom the first folder to the second folder, said means comprising acorner feed table; means for partly superposing the folded sheets duringtheir delivery upon the corner feed table; and means for pressing thedelivered sheets upon the corner feed table, said means comprising brushrollers, substantially as described.

5. In a cross folding machine of the type referred to, the combinationof: a folder; 9. second folder; means for delivering the folded sheetsfrom the first folder to the second folder, said means comprising acorner feed table provided with feed rollers arranged at an angle otherthan 90 to the direction of the feed; means for partly superposing thefolded sheets during their delivery upon the corner feed table; andmeans for pressing the deposited sheets against inclined feed rollers,said means comprising brush rollers, adapted to rotate about axesparallel to the inclined feed rollers, substantially as described.

6. In a cross folding machine of the type referred to, the comblnationof: a folder; a second folder; means for transferring the folded sheetsfrom the first folder to the second folder, said means comprising acorner feed table; means for partly superposing the folded sheets durintheir delivery upon the said corner feed ta Ie; the folding speed of thesecond folder not being greater than the folding speed of the firstfolder, substantially as described.

Signed at Leipzig, Germany, this eighth day of January, 1932.

GEORG SPIESS.

